Crime Advisory

Fraud Scheme

The FBI has put out an advisory to Campus Law Enforcement agencies throughout the country regarding a fraud scheme targeting college students. Although TUPD has not received any reports of this activity at Tufts University we would like to share this advisory with the Tufts community.

The details of the scheme are as follows:

A student/potential victim responds to an employment opportunity on a website and submits a resume along with personal identifying information. The student is sent a business check for several thousand dollars and is instructed to deposit it into their checking account. They are then told to withdraw a large percentage of the funds deposited and deposit it into another account for supplies and merchandise. Needless to say the original check is later found to be forged (stolen routing and account number). This activity is similar to other recent scams taking place across the country where suspects attempt to solicit personal identifying information, such as date of birth, social security number, bank account information, or extort money.

In this particular scheme the suspect(s) are posting job listings on a number of University and College job boards around the U.S. which have just started to appear in the last month. They are offering employment with the following companies:

JELLYBEADS

LDC CHARITIES

BELVIEW FARMS

The phone numbers used for replies to the postings are:

701-491-7202 641-924-4533

The contact name varies but has predominantly been Jeremy McCrossin.

Protect yourself from fraud:
•If you encounter one of these job postings, do not respond or give the solicitor any information.
•NEVER provide personal identifying information or supply money to any unknown entity.
•Should you see a suspicious posting contact the Tufts University Police at 617-627-3030